Finding Iridium Flares (And ISS Fly-Overs) From YOUR Location

Iridium Flares (bright reflections from orbiting communications satellite panels) are a VERY localized event. An observer only a few miles from the location of a Flare that you can see brilliantly, may not see anything at all.

To find when an Iridium Flare (or ISS fly-over) is happening at your location, do this:

1) Get the Latitude and Longitude of the viewing location (your driveway, an outreach event location, etc.) from here: http://www.getlatlon.com/
2) Create a free account at http://Heavens-Above.com.
3) Edit your Heavens-Above profile, and set the Latitude and Longitude of your location.
4) Return to the Heavens-Above home page, and pick which satellite you’d like to see.
5) For a real challenge, try to spot a daytime Iridium flare.
6) Tell me if you saw one!

Lifelong amateur astronomer, 2014 & 2015 board member of the Warren Astronomical Society, and a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. In recent years, I've been doing increasing amounts of Astronomy Outreach and lecturing about space science. I'm determined to improve Astronomy education in Michigan, and throughout the US. Asteroids and Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are a rather "Big Thing" with me.

Excellent! Iridium flares have gotten strangely rare in my location recently – several weeks ago, they were coming in pairs… Last Thursday, I saw a beautiful ISS flyover – almost directly overhead and BRIGHT! I’ve seen the ISS quite a few times recently.

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